Lady Eagles Lead Milton at Wingfoot Cross Country Classic

Sept 22/Cartersville, GA

By Andy Carr/Photos by Angie Butzow

Hosted by the Atlanta Track Club, the 4th edition of the Wingfoot Cross Country Classic was the largest meet of the season for the Eagles. Held at the course at Sam Smith Park in very high heat & humid conditions, Milton came away with a mixed bag of results and some very strong performances on the girl’s side. The Eagles were the 3-time defending & only Wingfoot Cup Champions going into this year’s meet. Milton’s varsity teams were only able to score 2-points towards the Wingfoot Cup & saw South Forsyth (3rd in both the Varsity Girls & Boy’s races) War Eagles capture the Cup only one week after winning the Eagle Cup at the Milton Invitational.

Varsity Girls

The Lady Eagles finished as the 3rd 7A-class school but newly 3rd-ranked Milton (6th-235 pts) bested 28 schools to finish 6th in the field of championship division teams. The Lady Eagles were led by 3 finishers in the top-40 in a field of 244 starters. Junior Nyah Hernandez (19th-19:25), senior Taylor Cushman (26th-19:35) & junior Abby Rindt (40th-19:52) were Milton’s top-finishers. Also running varsity were senior co-captain Faith Wagner (78th-20:54), sophomore Audrey Nichols (93rd-21:07), senior co-captain Samantha Lenox (107th-21:21) & senior Maddie Erbey (172nd-22:24).

JV Girls

Milton (4th-170 pts) just missed a trophy by 16 points to finish 4th in a field of 31 schools! The Lady Eagles were the top-team of the day for Milton in all the races the Eagles competed in. Junior Maggie Gibson (21st-21:51) led the team effort and was backed-up by strong group of finishers led by first-year senior Olivia Lawson (35th-22:21), freshman Jessica Albregts (36th-22:21) & junior Katy Dickinson (37th-22:23)! Closing out the scoring was junior Payton Schuchart (65th-23:21).

Open Girls

The Lady Eagles bested 24 schools as Milton (6th-176 pts) was led by junior Aidan O’Hare (26th-23:55) & sophomores Natalie Ventura (29th-24:08) & Audrey Minton (32nd-24:12).

Varsity Boys

Milton (13th-376 pts) finished as the 3rd 7A class school but large gaps among the Eagles 4th & 5th finishers regulated the team to a outside of the top-10 finish. The Eagles still bested 23 scoring programs in the team’s largest race of the season where there were 247 finishers.

Sophomore Hayden Marshall (35th-16:52) again led the team as senior co-captain Luke Bonneville (41st-17:02) & fellow seniors Anish Gupta (71st-17:28) & Gary Halverson (95th-17:42) were the Eagles top-4 finishers. Also running on varsity were junior Spencer Watry (152nd-18:07), senior Ben Reilly (166th-18:14) & junior Joe Pick (180th-18:22).

JV Boys

Milton (15th-381 pts) bested 17 schools and was led by senior Gavin Roman (44th-18:47) & freshman Dylan Bowden (78th-19:06).

Open Boys

The Eagles bested 14 schools on their way to a top-5 finish! Milton (5th-156 pts) was narrowly beaten for 4th by just 2 points to Veterans (4th-154 pts). A huge race by senior Nick Butzow (16th-19:11) led the Eagle effort that saw the next 4 Eagle finishers all in the top-40.